using a FLV programme

I am a complete techno cretin as can be seen by the heading, which apparently I cannot change, because I meant "an FLV programme".
My Macbook Pro is running OS 10.6.8 with an intel 2.3 I5 and 8g ram
I want to get rid of my tv and access programmes from the UK and the US.
I have a fast vpn that allows me to view online in the US but cannot find a vpn that is fast enough to view online in the UK. I am using BBC Iplayer for the BBC but want to look at others providers as well.
I understand that there is software that will allow me to download files ex sites in the UK and the US and view on but am getting totally lost in the acronyms and the worth of various players and have no ability to judge any of the offerings.
Any help gratefully received.

I can't help you with pirating television illegally, but I can tell you that FLV means that a file is in the hated Flash Video format.

VLC is a free program that will let you play FLV files, though QuickTime X should be able to play them as well.

thank you for the response. I had only thought of the problem as a financial, not having the cost of replacing an aging tv, and technical and not from any other aspect.
As I am way too old to buy an eyepatch, a parrot and a cutlass then I wan't be doing anything more but may I ask from a position of curiosity - why is the Flash Video format hated?

Because Flash is hated, and the main reason for that is because Adobe seems to be unable to come up with a way for it to be really efficient (to their credit, they are working on the problem -- but the fact that they gave up on Flash for Mobile tells the tale, I think).

Compared to using, for example, HTML5 as your video delivery mechanism, Flash is proprietary, bloated, and a RAM and processor hog. Kind of the same reason why everyone hates RealPlayer.